Department of Political Science, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Mar 21;120(12):e2213266120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2213266120. Epub 2023 Mar 13.
Prior work suggests that modern gender bias might have historical roots but has not been able to demonstrate long-term persistence of this bias due to a lack of historical data. We follow archaeological research and employ skeletal records of women's and men's health from 139 archaeological sites in Europe dating back, on average, to about 1200 AD to construct a site-level indicator of historical bias in favor of one gender over the other using dental linear enamel hypoplasias. This historical measure of gender bias significantly predicts contemporary gender attitudes, despite the monumental socioeconomic and political changes that have taken place since. We also show that this persistence is most likely due to the intergenerational transmission of gender norms, which can be disrupted by significant population replacement. Our results demonstrate the resilience of gender norms and highlight the importance of cultural legacies in sustaining and perpetuating gender (in)equality today.
先前的研究表明，现代性别偏见可能有其历史根源，但由于缺乏历史数据，无法证明这种偏见的长期存在。我们遵循考古研究，并利用来自欧洲 139 个考古遗址的女性和男性健康的骨骼记录，这些记录的平均时间可以追溯到公元 1200 年左右，使用牙齿线性釉质发育不全来构建一个有利于一个性别而不是另一个性别的历史偏差的遗址水平指标。尽管自那时以来发生了巨大的社会经济和政治变化，但这种性别偏见的历史衡量标准仍然显著预测了当代的性别态度。我们还表明，这种持续性很可能是由于性别规范的代际传递，这种传递可能会被重大的人口更替所打破。我们的研究结果表明了性别规范的弹性，并强调了文化遗产在维持和延续当今性别（不平等）方面的重要性。
